Limassol, Cyprus

                                          

11/14/2012 (Wednesday) -- Limassol, Cyprus

We docked at Limassol but did not spend time here at all. Right after leaving the ship we found our bus that was arranged by our cruisecritic roll-call friend Mandy. We had a total of one coach and two mini buses for all participants and we were on the big coach. 

on the tour bus

The Santuary of Apollo Hylates and Curium

First, we went to the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates which is about 2.5 kilometres west of the ancient town of Kourion along the road which leads to Paphos. It was one of the main religious centers of ancient Cyprus. The majority of the monuments as they can be seen today belong to the site's 1st century AD restorations.

our coach

cute!

Curium stands on a cliff top at the outskirts of Limassol. This was used for theaters and other culture events. During the Roman period the theater was converted to host gladiator contests. Our guide was giving us some information about the place at the top of the theater.

 

the doorway beneath the last row of seats was where the wild animals were guided in the arena for the fights

                                        a group of students were having their class there

  

back on the bus

By the way, while on the bus we noticed many billboards with real estate ads written in Chinese along the highway. There must be a lot of Chinese investing here on this island.

On our way to Paphos, we passed by Petra tou romiou (Rock of the Greek) which is one of the most famous spots in Cyprus just along the highway. The legend goes back to Digenis, a Byzantine hero who threw heavy rocks at invaders to destroy their ships and impede them from intruding the island.

Paphos
Paphos was mentioned in the Book of Acts in the Bible where Apostle Paul had brought a local official to Christ and turned an evil guy by the name of Bar Jesus blind when the guy stopped others from hearing the gospel. (Thanks, DC, for the information.)

St. Solomon's Catacomb

At the catacomb, people hung their handkerchiefs on the tree after they dipped it in the Holy Water. The catacomb was carved underground out of limestone. Visitor has to go down about twenty steps in order to see the church and the spring of Holy water.

touching the Holy water

Paphos Archaeological Park

At first we paid to visit this park which the tour guide called it "the mosaic house". When we asked her what it is, she said it's a house filled with mosaic. After hearing that we decided instead of visiting this place we would rather spend the time exploring Paphos itself. Later on we found out that this is actually an UNESCO World Heritage Sites but with the limited time we just wanted to see the town instead. I just took these pictures of the mosaic while we were using the restrooms there.

We walked towards the pier where its seemed to be very touristy but beautiful. Just like any fisherman's wharf in the states. Then we walked to the part where it looked like a residential area. We were hoping to find a restaurant that serves local food. We went inside a 2-story supermarket but did not buy anything. Things seemed to be a little more expensive here than Alanya and the people were not as friendly but Paphos is still a beautiful place.

entrance to the park

walking along the pier

walking away from the pier 

to the other side of the beach

this restaurant supposedly served local food but it was closed

We decided to have lunch at this sidewalk cafe. This is a combination plate with two pork kabab and two lamb stomach stuffed with minced meat. Not bad at all!

My meatball plate, crispy and tasty. All the plates come with fries and salad.

The problem was it took a long time to get our food.

But it was a great lunch.

Ideal Cafe

the bag/backpack that I got in Alanya for $10 with tassels and evil eyes

We were suppose to get back before 4:30 and our bus left Paphos at around 3:20. It was a relief when we got back to the port at 4:20.

looking out from our balcony at Limassol port

After dinner at the Grand Pacific, as we were walking back to our cabins, we heard announcement over the PA system that our ship would dock at Haifa the next day (11/14) as scheduled, but would not be moving to Ashdod the day after (11/15) due to the airstrike killing a Hamas commander that day. Ashdod is in the south of Israel and about 25 miles north of Gaza. We bumped into a group of senior officers coming out and they assured us that "nothing is changed" as far as all NCL land excursions go. On the other hand, we had a private excursion booked with GTI for the next two days and we were wondering what will happen with these port changes. We decided to be proactive and contact GTI, to see if it was possible to change our itineraries. Since we will be docked in Haifa for two days, it seemed to be a better idea to go to the Dead Sea and Jerusalem on the first day instead of the second day as planned before. Email was sent by DC and we just had to wait for their answer. We watched closely on TV trying to keep an update on the current situation in Israel. An unusual night for us.